[valentine]

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/sports/off-the-court-a-king-sized-dilemma-1.29643

The Kings seem to be leaning toward less talented and less risky options, such as small forwards Al-Farouq Aminu of Wake Forest and Wesley Johnson of Syracuse – if he’s still available.

Aminu, who is exceptionally athletic and can fill either forward position, is highly coveted by the Detroit Pistons, who could be interested in working out a deal with the Kings

[memphisgriz731Participant]

thank you i had a kings fan call me crazy for saying they might take aminu but it makes alot of sense to me

[13kavak]

is a frequent contributor to insideh–ps. and haaretz is one of the leading israeli – arabic newspapers so I wouldnt discredit that article

[13kavak]

both positions and currently the kings can use a player known for defense at small forward something they lack

[The Scare Crow ReturnsParticipant]

They get Aminu/Monroe and a young point guard like Bynum to move back 2 spots…The Pistons would love Cousins to be there at 5 and with Dalembert the Kings could draft Monroe or Aminu and get a Point Guard Too….Maybe even Stuckey..5th pick for 7th and Bynum or Stuckey sounds Hawesome to Me….Aminu will be there at 7…Wes goes the Warriors I bet…

[SpencerIsHawesome2Participant]

Omri Casspi was the Kings best defender last year… and he played SF

[Leftovers16Participant]

Have u seen Greene and Casspi play d? Greene was guarding Kobe and Leborn fairly decent and Omri can play d also… They not lockdown defenders but lockdown defenders can score like they can barring allstars

[13kavak]

omris future with the kings is less then certain— in my opinion there isnt a player in the lottery like aminu , aminu is a combo 3-4 whereas monroe is a hybrid 4-5 the kings just added a starting center and they were established at the 4 where they dont have a lot of talent is a player that can handle both the 3-4.

[rickyD510Participant]

petrie always does these smokescreens; and these type of rumors always come out, remember last year with Jrue holiday?

[The Scare Crow ReturnsParticipant]

But you can agrue getting a franchise point guard would have been good too…could be getting a scorer in this draft to make up for passing on Reke….

[memphisgriz731Participant]

Aminu is the best fit for the Kings. they already have the 4 and 5 pretty solid and now you get a guy like Aminu that will provide tons of depth they could make a run at the playoffs if my boy reke plays like he can

[MagikKnickParticipant]

The Kings are gonna ‘start’ the draft, 1-4 seems set right now, whatever they do can have an impact on the rest of the draft….The main reason people think they’ll pass on Cousins is because of there big man depth, but Cousins is better, if not, has the potential to better than every big man on the Kings rosters, hes the smart choice, imo

[13kavak]

and regardless of what anyone says I dont think too many teams would be starting beno- he is not the long term answer at p.g

[SpencerIsHawesome2Participant]

Dalmbert only has 1 year on his deal… Landry has only 1 year on his deal…

Yeah you’re right Kings don’t need a big man.

[SpencerIsHawesome2Participant]

13, how many Kings games have you actually watched?

[13kavak]

you probably dont even know who ricky berry is nor the impact he had on the franchise or how your glory days of a kings fan probably start at hurleys brief career if even that far back so dont talk to me about history because you dont have any.

[13kavak]

arkansas, florida, oklahoma etc but I know more about the kings history then you will ever know for instance who is the kings all time leading rebounder and the answer LOL isnt chris webber

[Leftovers16Participant]

Beno has the 2nd or 3rd highest shooting percentage… He rarely makes a mistake and is a very consistent pg he would instantly make some teams better with his awareness on the court… Lastly I thought they picked up Landry’s option?Beni

[SpencerIsHawesome2Participant]

Not sure where I said anything about history.

All I am saying is you clearly know nothing about the Kings right now.

First you say we don’t have defense at the 3, when arguably our best defender this past year was Casspi. Greene also played very well perimeter defense (albeit he struggles at times with physical guys)

Then you talk about how bad Beno Udrih is yet he played very well this season next to Evans. The reason we got rid of Martin was because Udrih-Evans played much much better than Evans-Martin. Udrih shot almost 50%, hits 3’s, doesn’t turn the ball over.

Udrih is an excellent PG when there isn’t pressure on him to score–and with Evans there isn’t. You don’t need an elite PG to win the championship (Fisher?). As long as we get the right pieces beside him he is more than suitable as our long-term PG.

[Leftovers16Participant]

We can find out all we need to know about the history of the kings on wikipedia LOL… Fail

[SpencerIsHawesome2Participant]

This upcoming season is the last on Landry’s contract…

I don’t go to games either, I live in NY. And I don’t really care about what you know from 30 years ago.

[Leftovers16Participant]

Beno shooting % I said was for pg only obviously centers have higher %

[13kavak]

omris future with the kings is LESS then certain if you could have read the article you would have known that. greene struggles with more physical players because hes not a combo forward ala aminu which was the basis for my argument for quite a long time that the kings werent drafting a pure big man this year. he may have played well but I doubt anyone can seriously think hed start on half the number of nba teams especially playoff teams. sorry I wasnt aware martin was a pg shall we compare apples to apples??

[13kavak]

and for anyone daft enough to think martin WAS EVER a pg how many pgs do you know that have NEVER averaged over three assists a season??

[rickyD510Participant]

wait who said martin was a pg……i’m confused

[plasticmanParticipant]

I would rather have Aminu than Monroe, but we need to draft Cousins, period……I don’t understand how people think we need a small forward more than a center.

Spencer Hawes is not an acceptable starting center IMO. If he’s going to be the guy we better have a beast of a power forward, which we do not, although I like Thompson and what he brings (even more than Hawes).

Cousins would instantly be our best post player and could be a top 5 center in the league very soon. He is a true back-to-the-basket guy with size, physical prowess, skills, length, and a mean streak. These kind of players do not come around all the time. Guys like Aminu are around in every draft.

[13kavak]

Then you talk about how bad Beno Udrih is yet he played very well this season next to Evans. The reason we got rid of Martin was because Udrih-Evans played much much better than Evans-Martin.

either hawesome was comparing a pg-sg to a sg-sf or he was saying martins a p.g either way not very accurate to say the least

[JazzinSLCParticipant]

I wouldn’t draft Aminu in front of Monroe or Cousins. Both of these bigs can really play, and should have really good careers. Either is better then Dalembert or probably even Landry (at least in time). Aminu is a highly skilled player, but I think the Kings will undoubtedly regret it down the road if Monroe and/or Cousins become all-star caliber big men.

[13kavak]

they wont regret that . I see hawesomes supposed point now that evans was a p.g problem is hes either a sg/ sf not a pg/sg so that wasnt martins fault that he wasnt playing with a p.g

[sacphil_08Participant]

Its funny how guys who dont live in sacramento, don’t know anything about what’s going on as far as workouts, anything, and obviously don’t understand the concept of a smokescreen, feel like they know enough to get on here and strut their stuff like they know something no one else knows. We have done NO workouts with wes johnson OR aminu, we have none scheduled. We have 2 young small forwards that this season are going to get the bulk of the pt along with francisco garcia to see who will develop and become our small forward. Aminu will not be able to play pf at the next level. Aminu at best will be a gerald wallace type of guy and it took wallace FOREVER to develop. Aminu can’t shoot (why would we add another guy without a proven jumper to a team we already lack a great perimeter punch) the kings covet monroe and cousins. If cousins is available at 5, believe we take him. He shot better than anyone we’ve worked out and surprised everyone with his touch. Geoff petrie is one of the most secretive gms ever. The kmart landry deal no one knew about. All people knew was that we were shopping kevin martin. The webber deal even, people knew we were shopping him, but no one thought it was to philly. Or even this deal yesterday, everyone thought that if we made a deal it would be to move down and with detroit, and philly has supposed to been working on a deal to get brand out, or work something out with minny but it didnt happen. Also, look at last year’s draft, No one thought we’d take tyreke until like 3 or 4 days before the actual draft. Before that it was definitely rubio right? He was flown overseas by petrie to have an individual workout, something he did for no one else, and it was a “lock” right? NO ONE knows whats going to happen and just because people want aminu here doesnt mean its going to happen. We’re definitely changing how we play but with dalembert up front as our center and landry potentially as the power forward, we’re very thin upfront, so why wouldn’t we draft a big? When it’s all said and done, one of our bigs will probably be dealt (maybe jason thompson) and we will draft a big. But you guys know everything and aminu is such a perfect fit… sure

[SpencerIsHawesome2Participant]

1. My reference to Evans-Martin was when Evans was PG and Martin was SG, obviously.

2. The article nowhere says Casspi’s future with the Kings is uncertain. It’s all speculation IF they draft a SF. It’s an Israeli newpaper worried about it’s hometown player, nothing more, nothing less.

3. Since when do people want combo forwards? They’re usually too slow for SF and not strong enough for PF… I’d rather have a guy who plays one or the other… not a ‘tweener.

[SpencerIsHawesome2Participant]

I gurantee we are not trading Thompson or any big men. Maybe Dalembert will be dangled at the trade deadline as an expiring contract but that’s about it. If someone leaves it’ll be through FA next year

[Leftovers16Participant]

Combo SF never work out they are always stuck in the middle like Yi too tall and slow for SF too weak for PF and gambling for a player like Dirk to show up is crazy

[The Scare Crow ReturnsParticipant]

Monroe( Because You believe the T’Wolves dont at least draft Cousins with the 4th Pick) The Wolves ain’t passing on this guy…The Nets might not pass on Cousins…Favors is not a lock to go 3rd…So drfating Monroe or Aminu if Cousins is not there is very possible…When did 4 teams pass on the best center prospect of a Draft…When the Center Is a top 3 player anyway…Maybe this is all a smoke screen to get Rubio for the 5th pick…

[sacphil_08Participant]

Also i hope the link you left wasn’t supposed to be showing that the kings are interested in aminu because it says absolutely nothing about such unless im missing something. Stop pulling things out of the air aminu isn’t gonna happen. Also beno does compliment tyreke extremely well but i dont think he’s the long term answer for the simple fact that just the season before he played terribly. The only thing about beno is that we need someone who is able to score under pressure and i don’t know how much of a pressure player he is. I remember a few times during the season where in the end of games shots that were automatic for beno earlier in the game, he was unable to hit. Beno off the bench would be perfect. I’m hoping with the 33rd pick that we draft jordan crawford and after maybe a season or two he’ll be able to step in and be the starter. The ideal guy to play in the same backcourt as tyreke is going to be someone who can move without the ball and hit open shots and handle every so often. Crawford has no conscience when it comes to hitting shots and i think he’d be great for us. But yeah 13kavak, i’m sorry but i have no credibility in what youre saying. You’re pulling things out of the air and i actually live in sacramento where you can listen to the sports radio where geoff petrie actually speaks and people close to the organization say things, and no one has suggested anything about any small forward and rightfully so.

[SpencerIsHawesome2Participant]

Not that this really matters too much but ESPN magazine did a mock draft with players from each NBA team making the picks for their team and at 4 Kevin Love took Wes Johnson for the T’Wolves and at 5 Tyreke Evans took Demarcus Cousins for the Kings saying “Demarcus is big, built, and can run and rebound. Add him to our frontcourt and we’ll be ruling”

For the sake of this topic, Aminu went 8 to the Clippers.

[sacphil_08Participant]

We dont want rubio… what sense would that make? He can’t shoot well enough and he needs the ball in his hands to be a fully effective ball handler and alongside tyreke thats not going to happen. I think minny won’t draft cousins just because why would you draft a guy that flat out said he’s not going to work out for you? And they need perimeter scoring more than anything. Flynn isn’t a perimeter guy, neither is brewer, they draft johnson and they have perimeter scoring and they already have jefferson and its not looking lke theyre going to have any takers on him and its not like he’s bad so why not just stick with him? Also minny would then have a million front court guys and they’re all big and slow. If minny had somehow been able to get anthony randolph then maybe cousins makes sense. But given the situation, johnson looks like their guy, kahn has done some stupid stuff in just 1 year as gm and the best thing for him is to do something that actually assesses a need instead of rolling snake eyes on the dice board again in this year’s draft

[OhCanada-Participant]

ot that this really matters too much but ESPN magazine did a mock draft with players from each NBA team making the picks for their team and at 4 Kevin Love took Wes Johnson for the T’Wolves and at 5 Tyreke Evans took Demarcus Cousins for the Kings saying “Demarcus is big, built, and can run and rebound. Add him to our frontcourt and we’ll be ruling”

For the sake of this topic, Aminu went 8 to the Clippers.

link?????

[The Scare Crow ReturnsParticipant]

And stupid…If the wolves draft Cousins they can can trade Jefferson and let Kevin start,,,He’s a jack ass if he picked Wes over a guy that would let him start…..

[piratejpParticipant]

I think you and I might be sharing a brain – you said exactly what I was thinking.

The Kings have been working out bigs for that first pick – Aminu hasn’t worked out. They’ve got another workout with Monroe – I think that one is huge, and depending on how he measures up to what Cousins did will be the deciding factor as to who they go with.

The guards and wings they’ve looked at have all been of the late first, early second variety. And I agree with you Phil – Crawford would be perfect in Sac; I’m crossing my fingers on that one. Even if he’s gone though, there are a lot of nice backcourt players in this range, so there should still be a few nice ones on the board, and picking the right one in a spot like that is the one thing Petrie generally does pretty well. We’ll still be a ways away, but Cousins and some backcourt help keeps us on the path to challenging again in a few years.

I often worry that Petrie’s glaring lack of strategic ability will screw it up at some point, but as long as they do it primarily through the draft, he might somehow dodge the pitfalls; which is why I expect that they’re done with the one deal and will just take their two picks and line em up for next season.

As for you Kavak – you are entitled to your opinion, but it never seems to be based on anything. Remember last year when I kept saying they wouldn’t trade up to take Rubio? Like Phil, I live in Sac and know the Kings. For them to take Aminu would be to draft a guy with their first pick that they didn’t work out – something they have never done in the Petrie era. How much you wanna bet it won’t happen this year either?

[SpencerIsHawesome2Participant]

If you find a way for me to link you to a magazine, let me know.

[Author]

Posts